


Are You Happy Here

by dahsink



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Bro was abusive, Everybody Lives, Humanstuck, M/M, Parties, Past Abuse, Spin the Bottle, and they were ROOMMATES, so was mom, will update tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-10
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:15:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26385505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dahsink/pseuds/dahsink
Summary: Your name is Dave Strider, and you and your sister have finally left your shitty homes to go to college. You didn't really expect to have a roommate like Karkat Vantas, and you sure didn't expect to fall in love with him. You've always hated romcoms.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas, background rose lalonde/kanaya maryam
Comments: 7
Kudos: 57





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> hey!! this is my first multi chaptered fics!! i hope u enjoy. I don't really have an update schedule, but I have 5/8 chapters written !! have fun reading and comments warm my heart :))

“Morning, brother dearest. Sleep well?” Rose chirped, as soon as Bro’s car jolted to a halt in the Lalonde’s driveway. She was smirking, her eyes surrounded with perfect eyeliner twinkling with mischief and long nails clutching her suitcase. Dave peered at her from behind his shades and took a long sip from the monster energy in his hand. 

“Like a goddamn baby. Get in.” He jerked his head towards the front seat, reaching his hand out to unlock the door. “Put your shit in there.” 

She does as she’s told, placing her suitcase and the small backpack onto the floor of the front seat, and Dave notices she isn’t making eye contact with Bro. She climbs into the backseat and clicks her seatbelt into place. As soon as Bro hears the click, he’s reversing out of the driveway like it burned him. 

“Thank you for picking me up, Bro.” Rose sounds nervous, and he can see the way her hands tighten in her lap. “Mom misses you.” She says, a bit quieter. Bro reaches up and adjusts the mirror so he can see them more clearly, and Dave knows Bro can see how he tenses up. Rose is eerily still as he stares at the two through his shades, poker face firmly in place. 

“Anytime.” He says, finally, and looks back towards the road. Rose and Dave visibly relax into the cushions of the backseat, Dave pulling out his phone and earbuds for a distraction. 

“Want any?” He offers the monster energy to Rose, who’s signature smirk is back. 

“What flavour?” She quips, reaching out to take it. 

“Dragonfruit. It’s good.” 

“God, and you think I’m the hipster?” She looks at it quizzically but takes a sip from the can and shrugs. “Pretty good. Sugar free is still better.” 

“Well this one has a sick-ass dragon on it, so fuck you too.” Dave shoots back, pushing his shades up his nose. He checks his phone for the time, it clearly saying ‘5:04 AM’ in white letters. He sighed. “Be honest, how much sleep did you get? I got a solid four hours.” 

“None.” Rose laughs bitterly and downs the rest of the monster. “I figured, if I have to wake up like an hour after I usually go to sleep, why sleep at all?” She’s trying to act normal, but Dave can see that the bags under her eyes that are usually hidden with makeup are darker than usual. 

“Nice one. I wanted to be rested and rejuvenated for our new life. Spreading our metaphorical wings, flying away from the nest, freshman year of college.” Dave knew he was rambling, but he forced himself to keep going over the growing ball of anxiety in his gut. “Make new friends, find your true love, get married and live in a house with the white picket fence and have two-point-five kids. Ain’t that the American dream, dear sister?” 

Rose was ignoring him, to no one’s surprise. “Truly. It really isn’t that much of a fresh start, we’re going to the same college as all our friends, and we’re a half hour drive to our sibling’s house.” She had opened a book and was flipping through it, scanning the pages at a rapid speed. 

“Way to be a buzzkill, Lalonde.” He scoffed, untangling his earbuds and plugging them into his old phone. “You drank my monster; you need to be nice to me. Speaking of which, can I have the tab?” 

His twin sister wordlessly passed him the can, and he wiggles the tab off and shoves it into his pocket. He offered an earbud to Rose. They always listen to music together, even though they both got separate phones years ago. She puts it into her ear, and he does the same, and he scrolls through their shared Spotify. Bro couldn’t afford to pay for it. 

“What are we in the mood for? Your non-ironic shit music or my totally ironic amazing music that we should listen to?” Rose rolled her eyes at him, and Dave eventually settles on a middle ground, some indie-ish rock music and cranks the volume up to full. They sit in silence for a bit, Rose immersed in her book and Dave staring out the window, bopping his head to the music. 

“What classes do you have tomorrow?” She says eventually, and Dave tries to recall his schedule. 

“AP art, and creative writing. Then the next day I have photography.” 

“I still can’t believe you got into AP art with your comics.” Rose smirks, still staring down at her book. “They really took ‘Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff’ as a serious application.” 

“Who said it wasn’t? This place wants to be so deep, but they didn’t even pick up on the subtext of SBaHJ number sixty-nine four hundred and twenty point five, ‘The Stairs Backstory’. It’s too bad, really.” A new song came on, and he pulled a face. “Skip?” 

“Sure.” Rose nodded at him, looking up. “It’s a tragedy. No one can pick up on the homoerotic subtext between Hella Jeff and the stairs.” As soon as the words leave her mouth, she regrets them, her mouth shutting closed with a click and eyes growing wide. Dave’s gaze snaps to the rearview mirror, where Bro’s looking at them, and Dave hurriedly corrects her. 

“Wow, not even the psyche major can crack the code. It’s obviously about the prison system and how criminal reform is near impossible under capitalism.” Bro stops looking at them, and Rose is sending him an apology with her eyes, grip tightening on her book. He keeps his face blank and turns back to stare out the window. 

\--- 

They finally pulled into the roundabout that was their college’s drop-off area, Bro jerking the car into park and smirking when the twins in the back lurched forward. Rose and Dave step out of the car, Dave stretching his arms above his head and feeling his vertebrae crack. Rose pulled her baggage out of the front seat, and he quickly followed. They stood there for a second, before she cleared her throat. 

“I’ll meet you in the main hall, okay?” She gives him a small smile, rushing out a goodbye to Bro before hurrying down the path. Dave turns to Bro, trying to keep himself from wincing under his harsh gaze, the fact that both of their eyes are hidden behind shades not helping at all. 

“Well. I should go.” Dave fights to level out his voice, keeping any emotion from creeping in. 

“Yeah, you should.” He tries not to be too disappointed at his lack of sentiment, Dirk had warned him about this. He turns to leave. “Hey, wait.” Bro continues, and he looks back at him. “Have fun, kid.” 

He gives him a smirk after his undoubtedly ironic showing of fatherly affection, then peels out of the roundabout and is out of sight in the blink of an eye. Dave tries not to think about it, turning on his heel, gritting his teeth and heading towards the main hall. 

He takes the time to scan the campus, the path framed by manicured bushes and trees that are a bit auburn, with it being the middle of September and all. He clutched his backpack, looking up at the pristine white main hall, with its intricate architecture and large windows. It looked old and stood out next to the modern new wings of classrooms. He spotted a community garden over by the dormitories, a tall grey building that sprawled over the campus, and a large resident parking lot. He also noticed a hipster-looking coffee stop that was mostly glass and had a stupid name (“Study Beans,” Dave mused aloud. “What the fuck does that even mean? It’s perfect.”) and seemingly endless wings of classrooms. Students were streaming in and out of the buildings, chatting on the grass and having tearful goodbyes with their families and greeting friends. 

Dave yanked the door to the hall open with a bit more force than necessary, searching the room for the white hair of his twin. When he spotted her at the reception desk, he slid up behind her and tuned into her conversation. 

“Yeah, that’s us. Rose Lalonde and Dave Strider.” The receptionist, looking bored out of her mind, passed them each an envelope. 

“That’s got a map, your schedule and your room key. Thank you and have a nice day.” She said in a monotone, and they both set off for the dorms. 

“I didn’t need to sign anything?” 

“We sent in our papers early for a reason.” Rose answers simply, opening her envelope and grabbing her key. “324. You?” 

Dave copied her, reading out the number on the key. “397. Same floor, that’s pretty good.” She nodded at that, tugging along her suitcase over the bumpy path. They stayed in relative silence when they entered the dorms, and in the elevator, and only when they realized they had to split up Dave spoke up. 

“When you get in you should sleep.” Dave looks at her out of the corner of his eye and Rose shrugs. 

“I probably will. After I meet my roommate and all that.” 

“Oh god, yeah. I hope they aren’t lame. Unlike me, the coolest kid in the universe. You’re ok too,” She barks out a laugh, and turns to leave. 

“You remember our plans for breakfast, yes? Be there or be square, as John said. Don’t sleep through it, dear brother.” She’s quirking up an eyebrow, and Dave smirks at her. 

“I’ll try. Try not to psychoanalyze your roommate too much, dear sister.” He quips back. 

“I’ll try.” 

There’s a beat of silence before they’re locked in a tight embrace. It lasts about three seconds before they’re pulling away again, Rose smoothing nonexistent wrinkles on her skirt. 

“Pester me, Strider.” 

“We’ll be seeing each other.” Dave scoffs, but quickly adds: “I will. Later, Lalonde.” 

They part ways, Dave traveling down the hall and counting the brass numbers on the blank doors until he reached the one assigned to him. 397. It was almost at the end of the hall, and there wasn’t any luggage around the door, so he assumed that he had beaten his roommate to the room. Dave fiddles with the key before trying the door. It opens, obviously unlocked, apparently, and Dave pushes the door open to reveal a small group of people in the dorm. 

“So, which one of you losers is my roommate?” Dave says after a beat, and the shortest boy in the room heaves a sigh. 

“Me.” The boy walked closer to Dave, and he took the time to scan him. He was short, nearly black undereye bags, caramel skin, a mop of curly black hair, and a seemingly permanent scowl. “Why the fuck are you wearing sunglasses indoors?” He snapped. 

Dave arched an eyebrow over the rim of his ray bans. “They make me look cool as fuck.” The boy huffed, clearly annoyed, and shouldered past him to leave. Dave could hear one of the other people in the room cackling at him, and he turned to them. 

“Is he always like that?” He asked, and the three people in the room chuckled. 

“Pretty much, yeah.” A chubby girl who was clinging onto the arm of a tall gangly guy answered, a small smile playing on her features. “I’m Aradia, Aradia Megido.” 

Dave ducked his head. “Dave Strider.” She smiled a toothy smile at him, her fluffy black hair bouncing when she moved. The taller guy looked up from his phone. 

“’Sup, I’m Sollux. Captor.” He was one of the lankiest dudes Dave had ever seen, wearing a baggy band tee and 3d glasses, for some reason. He had short black hair and skin so pale it was almost translucent. “I don’t go here, by the way. I go to a tech school pretty close to here.” 

“Oh. Cool.” Dave thought. “Do you know a dude named Dirk? Dirk Strider.” 

“Oh yeah. He’s chill, he’s in my coding class. Your brother?” Dave nodded, and Sollux nodded back. “Cool.” 

Finally, he looked at the last person in the room. She was grinning, and her canines were eerily sharp. She wore pointy red shades that covered her eyes that had no emotion in them. Her fingers clutched a cane with a dragon head on top, her nails stubby and bitten. She was around Dave’s height, but was skinnier than him. 

“Yo. I’m Dave.” She laughed, and it was more of a cackle than a laugh. 

“Terezi Pyrope! Nice to meet you, coolkid. What’s your chumhandle?” Terezi was still grinning. 

“Coming on a bit strong. I can write it on your arm?” 

“I won’t be able to read it. I’m blind.” Dave stuttered out an apology, but she just looked amused. “Put it in my phone.” 

She handed him her phone with the Pesterchum app already opened, and he entered in his chumhandle. ‘turntechGodhead’ he typed in and shot himself a message. 

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 7:23 

GC: sup 

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 7:23 

Dave handed Terezi her phone back, and she cackled again. “So, is my roommate ever coming back, or?” 

“He’s just getting coffee, he’ll be back. We should go, though.” Sollux was still staring at his phone as he spoke, and his lisp was very pronounced. Aradia nodded, and began to lead him out the door, waving goodbye to Dave. Terezi followed them a second later, telling him to pester her later, and calling him ‘coolkid’ again. He smiled and gave them a weak salute. 

Dave turned to scan the room. There were two beds pushed up against different sides of the room, one with his roommate’s stuff thrown on it. He begrudgingly put his suitcase on the other bed. There were also two desks, two dressers, a tiny kitchen and another door that lead to the bathroom. It was a small room but had a lot of natural light coming from the multiple windows, and a bit of charm to it. He drew his laptop and his laptop cord out of his backpack, setting it up on the desk and opening it up, clicking on the pesterchum app. 

Dave squinted at the screen, seeing a couple messages he hadn’t opened. One from Terezi, a handful from John and one from Jade. He clicked into Jade’s messages. 

gardenGnostic [GC] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 7:35 

GG: Hey! I know ur prolly in the car or something but i hope u have a good first day ^^   
TG: oh hey thanks   
TG: just got into my dorm   
GG: have u met ur roommate yet :?   
TG: a little bit   
TG: he just roasted my shades then left   
GG: that sucks!! u do remember abt breakfast, right? can't wait to see u!   
TG: oh yeah i remember   
TG: cant wait to see u too   
GG: ugh, i have an intro thingy for school :( ttyl?   
TG: sure   
TG: later 

gardenGnostic [GC] is now an idle chum! 

turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gardenGnostic [GC] at 7:42. 

He smiled softly. Jade was always nice to talk to, she’s a real sweetheart. He really couldn’t wait to see her tomorrow. And John, too. They’ve been best friends for years, and it’s so great that they’re going to the same college. Speak of the devil, he pestered him again. 

ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 5:23 

EB: hello strider!!!   
EB: tell me when your on campus   
EB: helloooooooo   
EB: right, you probably dont have wifi   
EB: oh well! just shoot me a heads up, pal :B   
TG: yo   
TG: just got into my dorm   
TG: also before you say anything i know about breakfast i will be there   
EB: great!   
EB: how's your roommate? nice? not cooler than me, i hope :B   
TG: havent met him yet   
TG: he seems ok tho   
TG: not cooler than u egbert dont even worry about it   
EB: well, i'll let you get settled! see you tomorrow, my palhoncho!   
TG: holy shit thats the worst nickname youve given me   
TG: whatever bye egbert see u 

turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering ectoBiologist [EB] at 8:01. 

Dave leaned back, quickly adding Terezi as a friend before the door opened with a loud bang. He whipped his head around, jumping up from his chair. But it was only his roommate, face red from the cold and hands clutching two coffee cups. He wordlessly thrusted one of them out to him. 

“I’m Karkat Vantas. Sorry if this is fucking weird, but my friends told me it would be a nice gesture or whatever.” Dave took the cup, looking at what type of coffee it was before taking a cautionary sip. “I didn’t fucking poison it or something, I got it from the campus coffee place with the fucking stupid name.” 

“It’s a great name.” He remarks, smirking at Karkat’s annoyed expression. “Thanks. Dave Strider. That’s me. Greatest artist since Van Gogh. Author of Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff. Your roommate.” Karkat rolls his eyes again. 

“I’m a writer. And unlike you, I don’t have a huge ego.” Dave’s smirk deepened, and he crossed his arms. “I’ll leave you alone, and you leave me alone. Ok?” 

“Alright. Should be easy, it’s not like we live together. Oh wait!” Karkat scowled again. 

“Whatever. My friends didn’t embarrass me, did they?” 

“Depends, they said you were always like this.” 

“That’s not embarrassing, that’s the fucking truth.” Karkat snapped dryly. He started rooting through his bags, pulling out clothes and a couple CDs. 

“Who still has CDs? What is this, the 1800s? It’s the twenty-first century or something.” Dave picked up one of the CDs. “Love Spell Two.” He read aloud, before throwing it back onto Karkat’s bed. He sputtered, picking it up and putting it in a pile with the others, Dave silently shaking with laughter. 

“Shut up, it’s a fucking great movie. And for the record, it’s not on Netflix so I can’t watch it on there. So, my fucking CDs.” He was turning red, so Dave backed off. He started to unpack his own stuff, shoving the little clothes he brought into the dresser (He noted to ask Rose to go shopping with him for more clothes.) putting his blanket on the bed, and his hair products in the bathroom. When Dave deemed his part of the room put together, he pulled his laptop off the desk and into his lap on the bed. 

turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] at 8:32 

TG: sup   
TT: Hello, dear Brother. Settled in, i hope?   
TG: as settled in as i can be   
TG: hows ur roommate   
TT: Her name is Kanaya Maryam, she's a fashion designer.   
TT: Very kind, i think we will get along well.   
TG: is she hot   
TG: would u smash   
TT: Brother, you truly have a way with words.   
TT: Kanaya is very beautiful, but i doubt a romantic relationship will form.   
TG: u never know rose   
TG: u could think that u arent in lesbians but then bang   
TG: u gotta take off ur fake nails if u know what i mean up top   
TG: i should make a comic about this   
TT: About your sister's sex life? Classy.   
TG: what   
TG: no   
TG: fuck i walked right into that one   
TT: You always do.   
TT: Anyway, what about your roommate?   
TG: his name is karkat vantas   
TG: he got me coffee   
TG: he's short   
TG: loud   
TG: likes shitty romance movies   
TG: writer   
TG: did i mention short   
TT: You did.   
TT: Well, is he attractive?   
TG: uh idk   
TG: i dont know him well enough   
TG: i wouldnt smash yet   
TT: Well, i hope he's nice. We're kind of stuck with these people for the rest of the year.   
TT: I'll see you tomorrow, i should go.   
TG: wait   
TG: can we go shopping soon   
TG: i have no clothes   
TT: Dear Brother, i have been waiting for this day for years.   
TT: I will fix your fashion sense, i swear to you.   
TT: How's this friday?   
TG: fridays calm   
TG: later lalonde have fun with ur totally gay roommate   
TT: I could say the same to you.   
TT: Use protection. 

tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 8:43. 

With a huff of laughter, Dave closed his laptop and set it back on his desk, leaning against his pillows and staring up at the popcorn ceiling. It sure didn’t look like the ceiling of his old apartment, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved. A fresh start. Yeah, this wouldn’t be too bad.


	2. Two

Karkat was sure that this was going to be the worst year of his life. He was going to school with his same asshole friends, and his asshole brother wouldn’t stop pestering him, and of course, since every god out there hates him, his roommate was an asshole too. And the worst thing about it, was that Dave wasn’t just an asshole, oh god no, it must be worse than that. He’s a hot asshole. Karkat slams his face into his pillow, groaning to himself and rolling out of bed. His eyes adjusted to the dark room, seeing that Dave’s bed was empty. He padded his way to the bathroom, brushing his teeth and hair before pulling out a pair of black jeans and a sweatshirt. 

He looked at himself in the mirror, scowling at his eye bags. “It’s just my friends, it’s fine.” He mused aloud, grabbing his phone, wallet and keys before walking out of his dorm. Karkat locked the door, head lost in thought. 

Maybe this year wouldn’t suck too bad. And not all his friends were assholes, there was Aradia and Kanaya. They were the only nice ones. He should talk to Kanaya, they haven’t spoken in... oh. A couple hours. Karkat felt himself go red, he really was clingy, huh. Terezi had promised to buy him a coffee if he joined them for lunch, and that was the only reason he was going down. Yeah, it wasn’t like he was silently hoping that Dave would see him and start annoying him again. No way, that’s stupid. 

The door out of the dorms was automatic, and it opened with a ping when Karkat crossed it. He desperately tried to remember where the cafeteria was, before he gave up and asked another student. They pointed to a colourful building with an abstract-looking roof by the coffee shop he had gone to the day before, and he stomped his way across the dew-covered grass to the cafeteria. 

When he got in, Karkat scanned the room before Vriska shouted for him. 

“Karkles! Over here!” She gave him a toothy smile that didn’t reach her eyes before she darted over to where he was standing, frozen in the doorway. Vriska’s hand closed around his upper arm and she tugged him to the table. “Sit.” 

Karkat shot her a glare before sitting between Kanaya and Sollux. “Good morning,” Kanaya said. 

“Morning.” He grumbled. “Terezi, where’s the coffee you promised?” The girl in question turned to him. 

“It’s coming! Hold on. Vris, can you go order?” Karkat rolled his eyes at the two girls, them flirting with each other so obviously. 

“So, Kan. You meet your roommate?” Kanaya looked a bit caught off guard, clicking off her phone. 

“Her name is Rose. She’s nice.” He raised an eyebrow at her, who was turning turning red. “And pretty, and smart and interesting, oh god. I think I’m losing it, she’s amazing.” She rested her head on the table, and Karkat patted her back. 

“It’s okay, just like... what do you normally do? To woo someone.” He sighs, realizing how lame his words are, and she lifts her head up to give him an annoyed look. 

“Meddle? Become a motherly figure? I’m not exactly the master of romance here.” 

“Ugh, I know, but you’re nice! And smart, and I’m gay too but your pretty easy on the eyes.” Kanaya gave him a smile at that, propping her chin up on her hands. “And don’t start fucking angsting yet, there’s still a year of school and plenty of time to date and shit. And if she doesn’t see how cool you are, fuck her! But not like that, like fuck her in a bad way. We can run away and drop out of college together and live in the fuckin woods.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, we can. Thanks, Karkat.” She smiles at him, standing up straight in her chair. “What about yours?” Karkat’s eyebrows scrunched in anger. 

“He’s so fucking annoying. He has a huge ego. Always made fun of my movies and wears shades indoors for some stupid reason. Name’s Dave Strider, stupid motherfucker.” 

“Really.” There was sarcasm laced in her voice. “Tell me more.” 

“...He’s super fucking hot. I’m SORRY!” Kanaya slapped his arm, laughing at Karkat’s dismay. 

“Inside voice, Karkat.” Sollux remarked from beside him, and he glared at him. 

“Oh my god,” She chuckled. “Both of our roommates, are we okay?” 

“No.” Karkat snapped dryly. “Fuck this, I hate real life romance. Why can’t life just be like a movie?” He groaned and slumped back into his chair. “Terezi, where the fuck is my coffee?!” 

“It’s coming! Christ, Karkles, calm your tits.” 

“Okay, oh my god. Both of our roommates are hot?! What world do we live in?” She was still laughing, her shoulders shaking lightly. 

“One that’s pitted the fuck against us! Ugh.” Terezi placed the coffee cup in front of him, and he snatched it up. He took a large gulp, hissing when the hot liquid burned his tongue. “Fuck!” 

“Well, you did say it yourself. It’s too early to start our gay angst session. Get to know him better, and maybe he won’t be an asshole, and then you can date. Or at the very least, be friends.” 

“What if he’s still an asshole? A hot asshole?” 

“Then fuck him and switch dorms.” Sollux adds, not looking up from his phone. Karkat groans, throwing his hands up, but Kanaya shrugs. 

“That isn’t the worst suggestion.” 

“Oh my god, I hate every one of you.” He puts his head in his hands, grumbling to himself and trying not to think about Dave. 

\--- 

Dave had actually set an alarm for this morning. And then promptly forgot about it, and when it went off at 7:30 AM, it shocked him more than he’d like to admit. It also took him way longer than he’d like to admit to calm down, but that’s neither here nor there. He takes a quick, cold shower, does his usual extensive hair care routine, and deems his tee shirt and too-small jeans classy enough for his eccentric friends. 

“Alright,” He breathed, checking the time. He still had a bit of time before he had to leave and decided to shoot Rose a message of warning instead of showing up to her dorm unannounced. She responded quickly, and positively, to Dave’s surprise. He made his way out of the room, locked the door and started down the long, blank hallways to Rose’s dorm room. He knocked once on the door, before it was opened quickly. 

In front of Dave stood a Rose who looked like she hadn’t slept in days, her hair wild and eyes wide. “Dave.” She says, leaning against the doorframe. “I have news.” 

“Sure seems like it.” He scrunched up his face. “When was the last time you slept, holy shit.” 

“Last night. It was like two hours, but it still counts. Anyway,” She’s speaking very quickly, her hands gesturing wildly around her. “Kanaya is my soulmate. I’m sure of it.” 

“What? What the fuck, you’ve known her for a day. Barely a day.” 

“She’s perfect for me, brother. She’s pretty, she’s smart, she makes the more gorgeous clothes, I can’t wait to see what she makes for our wedding, she’s funny, eloquent, neat but not a neat freak, great at makeup, and last night she made me tea and somehow made it exactly how I like it without me telling her.” Rose swooned, sighing dreamily at nothing. Her brother quirked an eyebrow. 

“You’re already planning for your wedding? Jesus fuck.” He laughs, and she glares at him. “Take a chill pill, you stupid lesbian.” 

“Are you trying to wound me, dear brother? I already knew that. But I am not, in fact, pulling a stupid lesbian. This is homophobic.” She zones out for a second, before groaning loudly and leaning against the doorframe again. “Oh god, I’m pulling a stupid lesbian, aren’t I?” 

“I kinda just said that. Yes, you are.” 

“Fuck, I don’t mean to! She’s just so nice! And the only woman I’ve been interested in since Jade, and we all know how that turned out.” Dave stays silent, and she keeps ranting. “Oh god, if we didn’t already live together, I’d be calling a U-Haul right now. I’ve known her for a day! I- ugh. Sorry.” 

“Don’t be. It’s entertaining.” 

“Not for me, dear brother. You find my suffering funny?” 

“Little bit, yeah.” He smirks at her and she glares at him weakly. 

“But I don’t know her at all, yet. My freakout will have to wait until I know for sure if I like her or not. Because I don’t know. Okay?” 

“Sure. But like-” He rubs at the back of his neck, trying to be supportive. “Don’t suppress your feelings and shit.” 

“You? Dave Strider? Are telling me not to repress my feelings.” She chuckles to herself, and Dave winces. “But thank you. I won’t, I’ll just try to... think more deeply about it before I start planning the wedding.” 

“Can I be your best man? Wait. Who’s the top? Probably Kanaya. Fuck, I can’t be her best man! I’ll be your maid of honour.” 

“Please, dear god no. Shall we go to breakfast?” She’s pushed herself off the doorway, shutting it with a click and pushing a hand through her hair to tame it. Dave nods, and they make meaningless small talk and bickering along their way to the cafeteria, stopping when they reached the door. Dave paused, and Rose scoffed at him. 

“C'mon, I bet their waiting for us.” She pushed past him and swung the door open, holding it for Dave. They padded inside, before there was a high-pitched shriek and suddenly, Jade had tackled Rose to the ground. 

“ROSE! Oh, em, gee, it is SO great to see you!” Rose just laid there, on the floor, in stunned silence. Jade had gotten up and was gushing to her. 

“Ow.” Rose said meekly, and the girl standing over her seemed to come to her senses. 

“Oh god! Rose, I’m so sorry. Do you need help?” She thrust out her hand and Rose took it, Jade surprisingly strong for her small stature. “Sorry! I got ahead of myself.” She flashed them a blinding smile, finally registering Dave standing awkwardly a couple feet away. 

“DAVE!” She rushed up to him, throwing her arms around his neck. He patted her back stiffly, trying to keep his poker face even. “How have you been? I know we talked yesterday but that doesn’t matter.” She pulled away, gripping his shoulders and smiling again. “Oh right! I got my braces off! Look!” She leaned in closer to his face, scrunching up her nose and baring her pearly white straight teeth with pointy canines. 

“Looking good, Harley. Great to see you too, I’m doing about the same as yesterday.” He detangled himself from Jade’s arms, but she had grabbed his wrist before he could fully remove himself. When her long-nailed hand wrapped around his wrist he stiffened, and she quickly let go. 

“Sorry! Okay, come on, John’s waiting.” She turned on her heel, and the twins shared a look before following the tanned girl, who was zigzagging between the colourful lunch tables before eventually landing at one with a single, very excited, and a lot taller than Dave had remembered John Egbert. 

“Yo.” Dave said simply, and his best friend’s dorky face split into a wide grin, his gap tooth on full display. 

“What’s up!” He got up from where he was sitting and tugged him into an embrace. 

“Jesus, we saw each other like a month ago, what’s with you guys and hugs?” He scoffed, and tried not to breathe in John’s familiar smell. Cake batter and apple juice, if you were wondering. They eventually pulled away, the girls already sitting down and Jade chatting Rose’s ear off. 

“No homo.” John punches his shoulder, and Dave pretends to be wounded. 

“Homophobia. Right, Rose?” 

“What? I’m just going to assume it was something stupid. Dave, stop being stupid.” She glanced at him, before turning her attention back to the giggling girl beside her. 

“Such a loving sibling relationship.” He sat down, leaning his elbows onto the table and smiling softly to himself. These friends, even if one of them was his automatic friend because of blood ties and all that, was one of the things he let himself indulge in. Like his music and his comics. The luxuries he got to keep, and got to look at like achievements, in an odd way. The things that couldn’t leave him. It was then Dave registered that John was addressing the table. 

“Well! We’ve all made it. First year off college. It’s so lucky we went to the same college, how lucky is that?” He spread his hands out, looking expectantly at the three teens in front of him. 

“Very lucky!” Jade interjected, nodding swiftly at her twin’s words. 

“We’re truly going to find ourselves this year, but we have to make a pact.” 

“A pact.” Rose repeated, raising an amused eyebrow. “Like a blood pact? Isn’t witchcraft my thing?” 

“Not a blood pact, there is no wizardry going on here!” He tutted her, and steamrolled ahead before Dave could make a comment about him being a dad. Dave couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed in this wasted joke potential. “A pact to not split up! Even if we get girlfriends, because we all like women, and that’s kind of funny when you think about it.” 

Dave chuckled, and the girls laughed too, but Rose’s laugh quickly tapered off into seriousness. “I would never ditch you guys. Not for anyone. Swear on my life.” Her eyes narrowed, and Jade seemed to be holding back a grin. 

“Not even for your hot roommate?” She finally broke, leaning back in her chair to laugh, at Dave and John’s shocked expressions. 

“JADE!” Rose snapped, lunging to hit her upside the head but she easily dodged and patted her head. “That was- well it wasn’t private, but I have a- just ugh!” Dave was starting slack jawed at the two. 

“How does she know?!” He asked incredulously. “You told me like an hour ago. Barely!” 

“What are we talking about?!” John looked absolutely confused, eyes snapping from Rose to Jade to Rose again. “Are you two thinging again?” 

“NO!” Both girls said at once, and Rose buried her face in her hands. “I have a hot roommate. And, Dave, I told Jade last night. We both couldn’t sleep.” 

“Sorry, just insomnia things!” She threw and arm around the hunched over Rose, and threw up a peace sign. The girl in her half embrace scoffed. “Don’t even worry about how I usually go to sleep at ten, I’m totes hardcore.” 

“Yeah. But I would never ditch you guys for Kanaya! Never. I promise. We could do a blood pact, I have all the supplies in my room-“ John’s face was priceless at the moment, a mix of fear, curiosity and pure confusion. “I’m being sarcastic, John, no need to get out the crucifix.” 

Dave felt himself smiling, and fought to keep it down. “Totally. I’d never ditch you nerds, where would you be without me?” 

“Better off. But, with a whole lot less irony. No, actually, I think just better off.” John got a quick flick to the side of the head after that, and he yelped in surprise. “I’d be in less pain right now, thank you very much! I rest my case.” 

“You know you love me, Egbert.” His best friend stuck his tongue out at him, the childish action so normal for John that Dave didn’t even roll his eyes. 

“Wait!” Jade’s eyes landed on Dave, and he threw his hands up in mock surrender. “What about your roommate? Smash or pass?” She waggled her eyebrows and Dave smirked at her. 

“He’s pretty non-chill. Pretty much as far from chill as someone could possibly be. Very loud, called my shades lame. But,” He paused for dramatic effect, leaning forward. “He’s pretty cute. Nice ass.”Everyone groaned, laughing at Dave’s smug expression. “Might try to see how loud he can get in other situations, if you know what I mean, up top Egbert!” 

John had high-fived him before he registered his words, and when he did, he pulled a face. “Oh my god, no homo.” Rose smirked. 

“I think what he said is just about as far from no homo as you can get.” 

“Shut up, sister. What classes do you guys have?” Dave swiftly changed the topic, and Jade pulled a planner from her backpack. 

“Bio and chemistry! I’m so excited! It’s too bad we don’t share any classes, but we should make this a thing! Every day we should eat breakfast together. Like a big happy family.” She grinned to herself, flipping through the planner. Rose leaned over her shoulder, looking at the meticulously designed pages. She grabbed a pen and clicked it, scanning the people at the table. “Shall we? I can write it in my planner!” 

“Yeah, totally. Unless I get super rich and popular, then I’ll eat lunch on the moon with Elon Musk and Obama. God, I miss Obama.” Dave looked away wistfully. “Also, if we’re a family then John’s the dad, fucking boom, got em.” He cackled, John looking like he just got slapped. 

“I am not a dad! That would mean that Jade is your aunt.” He rebutted, and Dave smirked. 

“Who says I’m the kid? I’m totally the cool uncle who shows up to family dinners uninvited and gives the kids stacks of dollar bills.” 

“Oh yeah, you fly in from your moon lunchroom. Who’s the kid in this family?” The three of them turned to Jade, who’s head snapped up from where she was bent over her planner. 

“What?! Not me! How would John have me?! We’re twins! That doesn’t make sense!” 

“It doesn’t have to, in this universe Dave is actually cool, which we all know is impossible.” 

The conversation carried on, the group finally remembering to get food, and eating until Dave had to go to creative writing class. He stood up, gathering up his trash, promising to be there tomorrow, and giving Jade and Rose a hug and John a firm handshake. 

“Later, guys. See you tomorrow.” Dave waved at them, allowing himself to smile slightly and leave the cafeteria. He put in his earbuds, putting his playlist on shuffle as he strolled across the grass, the tops of checkered his vans darkening with dew. He found his way to one of the many wings, one that looked older and a lot blander in contrast with the more artsy buildings around it. He swung open the glass door, glancing at the piece of paper he had written all his classes on. Dave squinted at the smudged pen and then the numbers on the door closest to him, walking down the hall until he found the room for his creative writing class. 

Stepping in, the first thing he noticed was the posters on the walls. The walls were nearly covered floor to ceiling in motivational posters, with every animal known to man in quirky situations. He smiled to himself, looking for a seat. The teacher’s desk was in the corner, and there were a couple circular tables in front of the desk. The rest of the room was taken up with rows of computers. 

All the other students were sitting scattered around the circular tables. Dave didn’t recognize anyone, except the angry boy sitting with his back to him. It was Karkat. He could tell by the mass of curls and horrible posture. He didn’t exactly feel like getting his head bitten off, so he took a seat at another table. He didn’t bother introducing himself to the people at his table, resigning to just scan the room. Dave could feel Karkat looking at him from the other table but kept staring ahead. 

The teacher introduced herself and gave each of them a small stack of papers and gave a quick rundown of what they were doing this semester, before smiling at the students and spreading her hands wide. “Okay! Now, I’d like you to turn to a partner, and fill out the getting to know you sheet in the documents that I provided! Have fun, and hopefully make a new friend!” 

The people at his table had already paired up, leaving Dave alone. His eyes flitted around the room, seeing that everyone had a partner. Except for Karkat. He was fuming, arms crossed over his chest and glaring at the empty table in front of him. Dave sighed, getting up from where he had been sitting and pulling out a chair next to Karkat. His head snapped up to him, scowling. 

“What do you want?” He snapped. 

“You’re my partner. For this project thing.” He sat down, rifling through to package of papers and pulling out the correct one. “First question. Name?” 

“You know my fucking name.” When Dave just stared at him, he relented. “Karkat Vantas.” Dave scribbled in down in red pen, and Karkat wrote down Dave’s full name on his paper. 

“Next. Hometown?” Dave fiddled with his pen. “I’m from Houston.” 

“I could have guessed.” At his confused expression, the other boy rolled his eyes and continues. “You have an accent, dumbfuck. I’m from Mexico City.” They both paused to write the other’s answer down. 

“Favourite colour? This is dumb. Mine is red.” 

“Red too. And black.” Dave opened his mouth to dispute, but Karkat cut him off. “I know black is a shade or whatever, fucking art major, but I still like it.” He huffed, and they wrote down their answers. “Any siblings? I have one. His name is Kankri, and I don’t like him very much.” 

“Only one? I have three. Rose, my twin, and Dirk and Roxy. Twins as well.” Karkat scrunched his face up. 

“Your house must be a shitshow. Do you live in a fucking mansion?” 

“Nah, I live in a shit apartment with my Br- Dad. With my dad.” Dave quickly corrected himself, not wanting Karkat to think he was that crazy yet. He already seemed to be confused by how Dave’s family worked. The small voice in the back of Dave’s mind spoke up, reminding him to be careful. He didn’t want to get social services involved yet again. “Dirk and Roxy moved out a long ass time ago. Rose lives with my Mom. Their divorced.” 

“Oh! Oh.” Karkat seemed to falter in his general annoyance at Dave. “Sorry. I have a single dad, if that makes you feel any better.” 

“Don’t be sorry. Next question?” Dave really didn’t want to open the door of thinking about Bro. Rose would scold him, telling him not to bottle up his emotions and face what happened in that shitty apartment, but he really, really didn’t want to right now. He didn’t think he would ever want to. Even dwelling on it this long made him freeze up, still being able to feel the fear that was imbedded in every inch of the apartment, even stretching to the stairs and the rooftop, with the suspicious stains from a decade of training. A decade of abuse. The voice said, sounding suspiciously like Rose. He blinked, hard, before focusing back on the paper in front of him. And Karkat. Fuck, he had just zoned out on him. 

“Sorry.” He mutters. “What’s the question?” 

Karkat seems to battle with himself, before blurting out the question. “What are your hobbies?” 

“I make music. And comics. I do taxidermy sometimes.” Dave’s monotone was in full force, and the boy in front of him still looked mildly worried. “What about you?” 

“I like romcoms. As you can probably fucking tell, with my dvds and shit.” He looked away, blushing slightly. “That’s kind of it. I like romance books too, and I like to write my own short stories, that’s why I’m in this fucking class, heh. I’m a pretty boring asshole.” 

“Do you like romcoms, like, ironically?” Karkat scowled at him, confused. 

“What?” 

“Uh. Nothing. Final question, what’s your chumhandle? Wait, what, that’s so stupid. I’m turntechGodhead.” Karkat took out his phone and entered it in and shot him a message. Dave grabbed his phone, added him as a friend, and placed his phone on the table. 

“I guess we’re gone. Can we go?” Karkat muttered, putting his phone in his pocket. “This was lame.” 

“It’s the first day, I didn’t have huge expectations.” He snorted, raising an eyebrow above the rim of his shades. “Any other classes today? I have AP art.” He smirked at Karkat, subtly flexing that he was in AP classes. 

“No, I don’t. I’ll probably just piss around. Watch a movie or something.” Just as he said that, the teacher announced that class was over, and the students began to shuffle out of the door, chatting lightly with their classmates. Karkat and Dave walked out together, going the same way back to their dorm. They stayed in relative silence, not wanting to break the awkward tension between the two. 

“Uh, you want to... fuckin... watch a movie? With me. I mean. Shit.” Karkat was radiating nervous energy, and Dave chuckled. 

“What, a romcom?” He smirked again, and slowed his steps to match Karkat’s slower ones, the shorter boy opening his mouth to probably curse him out, but he reassured him. “Sure, that would be nice.” 

When they watched the movie, after taking way too long to decide on one, Dave found that he had trouble paying attention, and was glancing at Karkat more than he was looking at the screen. He decided not to mention that to Rose in their evening chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed! comment ur thoughts and yell at me on tumblr @/dahsink :)


	3. Three

Dave unlocked the door to his dorm, balancing the two coffee cups in his arms and stifling a yawn. It was way too late for this shit, but he needed to study, and to study you need caffeine. He felt bad for the baristas that had to work this late, but at least he’s giving them something to do. 

“Honey, I’m home,” He sing-songed, and Karkat rolled his eyes at him, hunched over his laptop and typing furiously. Dave placed the coffee cup on his desk and glanced at his computer screen. 

“What you writin’?” He asked, taking a sip from his coffee. 

“It’s that project, I have to write a horror short. It’s stupid and shitty.” Karkat sighed, wiping his face with his hands. Dave shrugged, and he threw himself onto his bed. 

“How gay is it?” Karkat very slowly turned to face him. 

“It’s a horror short. Not gay at all.” 

“No gay subtext? Bo-ring.” He smirked, and Karkat scowled at him. 

“Fuck off. You’re gay subtext.” He turned back to his computer, and Dave started to grin. 

“No way, baby. I’m gay text.” Karkat promptly chucked an eraser at his head, and he yelped in surprise. “I got you coffee, and this is how you abuse me?!” 

“Just because you’re a nice asshole sometimes doesn’t mean you aren’t an asshole.” Dave waggled his eyebrows at his friend and took another sip from his coffee. “Shouldn’t you be studying?” 

“Yeah, ew. Don’t remind me.” He snatched his school binder from the tangle of sheets on his bed, flipping it open to the animation class section and started to read through the articles about how animation was affected by the second world war. Dave was zoning out and was very grateful when Karkat spoke up. 

“Terezi and Vriska are squabbling again.” 

“Is it the same thing as last week?” Dave looked over at him, and he threw his hands up. 

“Nope! It’s fucking always something new and annoying. It’s never that big of a fucking deal, but they make us all pick sides, and it ruins breakfast. Ugh, fuck this.” He closed his laptop with a loud click and turned around in his chair to talk to Dave. 

“I just wish they would stop. I get it that it’s, like, the fucked-up way that they flirt, but it just makes things suck for the rest of us.” His hands moved as he spoke, anger lacing in his tone. “But we aren’t the ones their flirting with! Just ew, yknow?” 

“Yeah, I get that.” He paused, Karkat looking at him expectantly. Y’know, you could eat with my friends.” The boy in question scoffed at him. 

“Listen, you barely put up with me. How am I going to win over your friends?” 

“Very easily. They don’t exactly have a reputation to upkeep.” Karkat shrugged, took a long drink from his coffee cup and resumed typing. “Cmon, at least it won’t suck. They’ve already heard about you, and they laugh at the stories I tell.” 

“What stories?!” He snapped, still typing furiously. 

“The one about your brother lecturing you about chastity before you left for college.” 

“Oh, that one's fine.” Karkat seemed to relax, clearing his throat. “I mean, I guess. It’s better than the torture that is our lunch table right now. I’ll have to notify Kanaya. And Aradia.” 

Dave nodded sagely. “The nice ones.” Karkat laughed, and it that laugh that Dave only heard when he caught him off guard, or he was tired. Usually when he tells a joke he just scowls at him, but when he laughs, he counts it as a big win. He wants to sample it one day, put it in a song and play it for him. See how long it takes him to notice it and get mad. 

They’d found a bit of a rhythm in the past week and a half, buying each other caffeinated drinks as peace offerings and teasing each other with no real sting behind it. They’d started complimenting each other more and mingling a tad with the other’s friend group. Dave tried not to read into it too hard, but the voices of his friend’s relentless prodding about his love life wouldn’t shut up in the back of his head. He grimaces, another, deeper voice has joined in, and Dave freezes up. 

He isn’t even here, and just thinking about his voice throws him into fight or flight. God, if he knew... if he knew what he was thinking about, if he knew what he was going, talking about his feelings and smiling and laughing, he would be face down in the pavement in seconds. Dave twitches, his ribs aching with phantom pains from when it was broken. He tries to forget the feeling of chunky concrete pressing into his cheek, the ache of fresh bruises and the smell of sweat and blood in the hot Texan air. It feels so real, and he wants to sob, wants to yell, wants to curl up in his bed and never come out, but Dave blinks hard a couple times and he’s back. Dave grimaces, trying to quiet the voices in his head and absorbs himself in his studying until he passes out with his jeans still on and over top the covers. 

\--- 

When Dave wakes up, he’s under his duvet, and his shades are folded neatly beside his pillow. He knows for a fact he didn’t do that last night, when he fell asleep, he was so exhausted he couldn’t think, but thinking that Karkat did it made his stomach drop a little bit. He stops thinking about it after that. 

Karkat only complained a little bit when he woke up at being reminded who he was sitting with this morning, and Dave gave himself a point. He wanted this morning to be fun for him, he felt bad about how his breakfasts had been sucky lately. Of course, he didn’t say that, he just urged him out the door and promised to buy him something. He had warned the group beforehand, and they’d all responded with enthusiasm. When Dave finally got Karkat out the door, he patted his back. 

“Alright, Karkles. Try not to embarrass yourself too hard.” He gave him a sympathetic smirk. “I know it’s hard for you. Maybe use your inside voice, too?” 

“Fuck off, I fucking hate you. Let’s just get this over with.” Karkat stomped away, but Dave knew that he had picked out an outfit today and brushed his hair. He radiated nervous energy, his hands fidgeting at the hem of his hoodie, but his face was pinched up in annoyance. He learned vaguely quickly that he wasn’t actually mad at Dave, it was just that Karkat had a fatal case of resting bitch face. Dave strode up beside him, trying to act confident. For Karkat’s sake, of course. 

The walk to the cafeteria is uneventful, the dark-haired boy’s words clipped and voice higher than normal. Dave wants to reassure him, tell him that his friends will totally like him, Dave talks about him all the time, but he closes his mouth and stares at his shoes. He had gotten new vans with Rose, his first new pair in almost five years. 

The rest of Dave’s friends had chosen the same table they usually sit at, but they had cleared room for another person. The table would look less empty, Dave thought offhandedly as he sat down. Rose smiled at him, and nodded at Karkat, who sat down swiftly after Dave did. 

“Hello, Karkat. Nice to see you.” She gave him a tight-lipped smile, and Karkat nodded in return. 

“Uh, yeah- fuck- nice to see you too.” He addressed the rest of the table. “I’m Karkat, uh, Vantas. Hi. Dave’s roommate.” His hands were wringing under the table, face tense. Dave quirked an eyebrow at him. 

“They know who you are,” Dave snorted, and John barked out a laugh. He saw Karkat’s cheeks start to colour, and he rushed to fix the situation. “Want me to go get you that coffee?” 

“Uh. Sure. Yeah, thanks.” Karkat gave him a reluctant smile, and Dave hurried to get him his coffee. He didn’t really want uncaffinated-Karkat alone with his friends and family for too long. When he came back, setting the cup onto the table, Karkat shot him a thankful look and took a deep drink. He seemed to have relaxed quite a bit, his shoulders less hunched and eyes wider. The rest of the group was chatting idly, and Jade seemed to remember that he was there. 

“So, Karkat, what’s your major?” She asked excitedly, and Karkat set down his mug. 

“Creative writing. You?” 

“Animal Studies and biology! Creative writing sounds fun. Dave is very creative, as you know! With his music and his comics. You two must get along well.” She had a wide smile stretching across her face, and Dave and Karkat glanced at each other. Dave doesn’t know why he feels the urge to look away so fast. He stares at the table, and Karkat itches at his neck. 

“Yeah, we do. Kinda.” He tries to joke, but only Dave laughs. 

“He puts up with my bullshit 50 percent less than you guys do.” Dave explains, and Rose hums with a knowing smirk. There’s nothing to know, he thinks. He’ll bring this up to Rose later tonight. 

“That's quite a bit less. How, dear brother, has he not killed you yet?” Her smirk depended. “I know I’ve come pretty close.” 

“Seconded. I wanted to kill you when you told me you wrote a rap about having sex with my mom, who, for the record, I don’t even know.” Jade adds, frowning at Dave. He laughs. 

“Dude, ‘Jade’s Unknown Mom’ is a banger. Karkat, I need to play it for you sometime.” He’s smiling, remembering the shit rap he wrote at age thirteen. It was ironically bad back then, but now it’s like a double bad ironic combo. It’s a work of art. The boy he’s talking to is scowling, but there’s a hint of amusement behind his angry eyes. 

“I wanted to kill you when you told me that Nick Cage wasn’t hot.” John says, and hurries to add something more. “Not in like a homo way, but he’s totally hot. Not cool, Dave. Karkat, is Nick Cage hot? There is a wrong answer here.” Karkat blinked a couple times, clearly confused by the current topic. 

“Uh, sure? I haven’t watched many of his movies.” He tried, and John’s face broke into a huge grin. 

“God, Karkat, you are missing out. I actually have a weekly showing over at my house, if you want to come over, every Thursday at eight.” He nodded dumbly, and John turned to Dave. “Dave, I like this one. He can hang around.” 

“Wow, thank you Father. Do I really have his hand in marriage?” John stuck his tongue out, muttering “No homo,” for Dave, who mock swooned, head tipping onto Karkat’s shoulder. He waggled his eyebrows above the rims of his shades, and Karkat shoved him off with a grumble and a quick fuck off. 

“I wanted to kill Dave in the womb, probably.” The corner of Rose’s mouth turned up, and high-fived Jade, much to Dave’s overacted hurt. “Seriously, Karkat, what’s it like?” 

“Living with Dave? It’s okay. He buys me coffee, and sometimes stops being a fucking jackass for two minutes so we can have a nice time. And he watches movies with me.” He took a sip of his coffee and didn’t meet Dave’s eyes for some unknown reason. “It’s nice.” 

He didn’t know why his heart skipped a beat. He chalked it up to being happy someone likes living with him, because it had been a bit of a worry of his. Jade giggled from where she was sitting across from Dave, her eyes twinkling with a similar knowing look that Rose had. What was up with these broads today? 

“Spoken like a good housewife. Dave provides for the family, huh?” She laughed again, and Rose joined in. Dave gasped. 

“Don’t disrespect my wife! He’s a humble woman, with humble ideals. When we have children, he will stay at home and I will go out to the coal mines and work until my bones ache to provide for him and Dave Junior.” Karkat rolled his eyes, face red as a beet. 

“You are never going to name our totally hypothetical, never fucking going to happen, seriously never fucking ever, child Dave fucking Junior.” Karkat crossed his arms over his chest, eyebrows drawn low to his eyes. “Got it? Not that that shit will ever fucking happen, but just making it clear as fucking day.” 

“It’s a great name! Rose, back me up here.” Dave turned to Rose. 

“It’s a shit name.” The table erupted in laughter, and he felt his face get hotter when Karkat actually laughed. He still thought Karkat had a good sounding laugh, and it felt weird that his other friends got to hear it. It was like a private sound, something he only heard sometimes. It was redundant, but Karkat, Karkat’s voice, his laugh, his smile and his little quirks seemed to be a train of thought that hadn’t slowed down in the past couple weeks. They had a class soon, together, he registered, and shook Karkat’s shoulder to notify him. 

They stood up, Karkat taking his coffee and waving goodbye to everyone. He could see Rose take out her phone, and started to feel his phone buzzing with texts. He groaned inwardly, not wanting to read her play-by-play review and psychoanalysis of the morning. They started to walk across the lawn, the walk so familiar that is was almost muscle memory. 

“So, you like them?” 

“Yeah, totally. Funny, but also kinda annoying.” Dave snorted, and Karkat hurried to say something else. “No offence and shit.” 

“None taken. Their annoying, and weird. But you kinda got to love them.” Karkat nodded at his words, and they fell into silence. “Want to get food after this? I didn’t eat.” 

“Fuck, me neither. That sounds good.” 

Later, after class they sat at the coffee shop, chowing down on shitty boxed sandwiches and, of course, more coffee. They were in college after all. 

“You should sit with my friends tomorrow.” Dave looked up in the middle of a bite into his ham sandwich. 

“Huh?” 

“Tomorrow. See what it’s like. It’s only fucking fair,” Karkat was getting defensive, his shoulders hunching upwards and eyes locked on where he was picking at his plastic wrap. Dave chuckled. 

“That sounds cool. I’ll come. You won’t even have to buy me coffee, that’s how much of a fucking saint I am.” He flashed Karkat a smirk, and he rolled his eyes, but Dave saw the genuine smile he was hiding. 

“Thanks.” 

\--- 

tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 6:32 

TT: Well, I'd say that was a success, huh brother?   
TT: You wont check these until later.   
TT: I think it went smoothly. Everyone seems to like Karkat, i'm sure he will fit in well.   
TT: Bring him along more, i'd love to talk to him more deeply.   
TG: haha ur right i didnt check these until later   
TG: yeah i think it went well too he liked u guys   
TG: i totally would have ditched him if he didnt   
TG: bros before hoes   
TT: So Karkat is a hoe? You're experiencing sexual attraction to him?   
TG: what   
TG: stop   
TT: Alright, i'll ease up tonight.   
TT: By the way, i won't be at breakfast tomorrow.   
TG: whoa me neither   
TG: what r the chances   
TT: Very high, I assume.   
TT: Anyway, have a good rest of your day.   
TG: thanks u too rose   
TG: later skater 

tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 6:49 

\--- 

Dave rolled out of bed, blundering to the kitchen and grabbed a handful of crackers. He switched on the coffee machine, frowning and brushing the crumbs off his flannel pajama pants. Karkat walked in soon after. Dave assumed the smell of coffee woke him up, or else he would have slept till noon. He poured two cups, adding vaguely two sugars and two milks to each, and slamming them down onto the small kitchen table. 

“Morning.” He grumbled, taking a big drink from his mug. “You aren’t chickening out of sitting with us this morning, right? If you did, I’d be more pissed at you than I usually am in the morning.” 

“Threatening.” Dave scoffed. “Yeah, I’m still down. Vriska and Terezi make up?” He arched an eyebrow over his shades, and Karkat stared into his coffee. 

“I guess, they’re still on shaky ground but it’s pretty peaceful, I suppose.” He tried for a nonchalant shrug, but his eyes portrayed worry. Dave didn’t push it and took a sip from his mug. 

“When are we meeting them?” 

“We can go anytime. Those fuckers got lucky and don’t have classes until, like, fucking three. So, they just hang and do god knows what in there until the popular ones leave.” He rolls his eyes. “So, yeah. How about we go in 45? I’m fucking hungry.” 

“45 sounds good. Let’s try not to forget to eat this time.” Dave smirked, running a hand through his hair. “I know, I’m so gorgeous that it’s distracting. But, baby-” 

“Don’t fucking call me baby, Strider, or I swear to fucking god-” 

“You’ve gotta eat! If you die, who will tell me all the art I make is shit? Who would be my movie watching partner? What would happen to our shitty romcom nights?” 

“For the last time, that’s not the name, it’s two assholes watch deep and meaningful romantic comedies together in a completely platonic way night every Saturday.” 

“That’s too long.” Dave laughed at Karkat’s pinched expression. 

The rest of the morning unfolded without much fuss, Karkat taking a quick shower and Dave changing before they were quickly out the door and on their way to their meeting spot. Karkat was laying down some ground rules of what he could and couldn’t talk about, but Dave was only half listening. 

“-if you mention that, I will shove my foot so fucking far up your ass, that-” 

They’ve been getting pretty close, Dave thought idly. They had routines, they met each other's friend groups, and even liked some of the people in them. When Karkat wasn’t mad at him, which was basically never, he was actually pretty sweet. And even when he was mad, he was too stubborn to stop doing what they usually do, so the routines were still solid. Karkat poured the coffee, Dave turned on the machine. He theorized it was because Karkat couldn’t figure out how to work it, but Dave had grown up with coffee machines that had smuppets in the gears and he figured out ways to make them work, so he could handle an off-brand coffee maker. The cafeteria loomed nearer, and Karkat’s rant seemed to be dying down. 

“-fucking got it?” 

“Yeah, I got it.” Dave smirked and pushed the cafeteria doors open, knowing that he hadn’t heard a word that Karkat had said. “So, where are they?” 

“Back of the room.” He huffed and pushed past Dave, weaving towards the very back of the cafeteria. The table was obviously older than the rest of the tables in the room, leaning precariously under the weight of what looked to be around ten teenagers. They were all packed onto the small seats, some draped over people’s laps or just generally pressed up against someone else. He noticed a couple familiar faces, Kanaya, Sollux, Aradia and Terezi giving him a wave and gesturing for him to sit down. 

“Hey, I’m Karkat’s plus one for today. Hope you don’t mind.” He plopped down near Kanaya and Terezi, Karkat sitting down next to him. 

“Try not to be such an obnoxious asshole.” Even though Dave wasn’t looking at him, he could hear Karkat’s eyeroll. 

“I could say the same to you, baby.” He waggled his eyebrows above the rim of his shades, and Karkat smacked him on the arm. 

“STRIDER-” 

“Jesus fucking christ, Kark, it’s been thirty seconds. Inside voice.” Sollux quipped, and Karkat shot him a glare. 

“Fuck off, Captor.” He shrugged, throwing an arm around Aradia and showing her something on his Nintendo switch. She beamed at him, giving him a peck on the cheek, and Karkat made a gagging motion. He started to chat with Kanaya in hushed tones, and Dave started to zone out until a familiar voice snapped him out of his thoughts. 

“Hey, everyone.” He whirled around, and just as he had suspected, there was his sister standing behind him. They stared at each other, slack jawed. “Fuck.” 

“What the fuck, what the fuck.” He laughed, shaking his head. “You said, that you would NEVER ditch us, FOR KAN-” Rose slapped a hand across his mouth. 

“Shut the fuck up!” She hissed. “Why are you here, huh?” Rose looked smug, more than she probably should be for someone who had just been caught ditching her friends for a love interest. She dragged him away, much to Kanaya and Karkat’s confusion. 

“Having breakfast with your crush? Quite domestic, very cute.” Dave said dryly, and Rose scowled. 

“Uh, what do you think you're doing? The same thing? You have no right-” She objected, pointing a finger at his chest. He threw his hands up in defence. 

“Excuse me, miss jumping to conclusions, me and Karkat are just friends. You and Kanaya? Different story, you two are practically married by now.” 

Rose sputtered, trying to come up with a response. “You can’t deny how domestic this is, brother.” 

“You can’t either.” They stayed there, staring at each other accusingly with eyebrows raised, until they both relented. “How long have you been eating with them?” 

“Only a couple times. This is the third time, I think?” She’s looking at her shoes, brows furrowed, and mouth pressed in a thin line. “Some of them are a bit... much,” Dave snorted at that, muttering that it was an understatement. “But Kanaya’s sweet, and Karkat’s funny, and Aradia’s kind.” 

“Huh, so this is like... your new group?” He said blandly, expecting her to pick up on the joke, but her eyes flashed with fear. “I mean, we made a blood pact, didn’t we?” 

Both of their mouths twitched into a smile, or more of a smirk on Dave’s part. Rose sighs, folding her arms together and giving him an actual smile. “You know I’m not replacing you, right? I meant what I said. You guys, you especially, dear brother, mean the world to me. I couldn’t ditch you.” 

Dave felt himself go red at her sincerity, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Yeah,” He said, in a too small and too weak voice. Fuck, that was vulnerable, he thought in a panic. Dave clears his throat. “Yeah. I know.” He repeats in a deeper voice. “I know you couldn’t, just... bein’ ironic. New bit I’m working on, clingy brother. Think I’m fit for the role?” 

Rose smirks at him, leaning to walk away. “Practically your typecast. Shall we?” Dave chose to ignore that comment, sliding past her to sit next to Karkat again. 

“Where the fuck did you go?” Karkat snaps, and Dave waggles his eyebrows at him. 

“Gossiping about you,” He snatches a cinnamon bun from Karkat’s stacked plate, stuffing it in his mouth and grinning at his yelp of surprise. “Thanks babe.” 

“Don’t call me that, fuckass.” Karkat’s tone is clipped and he rolls his eyes exaggeratedly, but he still shoves the plate in between them, so Dave can reach the stack of pastries easier. “Kan, you want something?” 

“Hmm?” Kanaya hums, snapping out of her and Rose’s conversation, a light blush on her face. Karkat rolls his eyes again. “What? Pastries? Sure. I’ll have a croissant. Rose?” 

“Make that two.” Rose adds, smiling at Kanaya like she hung the stars when she hands her a croissant. Dave and Karkat share a look, dissolving into teasing chuckles. Rose shoots him a glare, and Kanaya glares at Karkat, but both of their ears go pink. 

When even more people squeeze onto the already packed table, the two boys are pressed impossibly closer together, and Dave’s left side is tingling where he’s practically fused to Karkat, leg to shoulder. And when he’s making a bad joke, encouraged by Aradia’s giggles and Sollux’s snorts, slings an arm around Karkat’s shoulders, he feels his heart jackhammer in his chest, but covers his nerves with a confident smirk. When the joke is over, he lets his arm lay across his shorter friend’s shoulders for a bit longer than necessary and it feels like a knife is twisting in his gut when Karkat scowls at him. He retracts the arm, awkwardly sitting on his hand in case he does something he might regret. But Karkat has thrown personal space to the wind, something he’s noticed the whole group does, tossing his arms around animatedly and almost whacking Dave and Kanaya in the face, leaning onto Dave’s shoulder when someone pisses him off, basically playing footsies with him under the table and not flinching (not like Dave flinches, he totally doesn’t) when their hands brush. 

He’s sure he’s going to combust, all of this in tandem with Rose’s knowing looks, and even some of the looks the other people at the table are throwing him. Terezi keeps looking at the pair and giggling, whispering to the girl wearing cat ears beside her, (Nepeta, Dave remembers) and then giggling some more. Maybe she just likes to giggle, Dave thinks helplessly as Karkat bonks his forehead against Dave’s shoulder. 

“Why am I friends with these fucking idiots?” He complains, propping his chin on Dave’s shoulder, looking up at him with a pinched expression. 

“No idea, it’s your funeral.” Dave smirked at him. “Quite the colourful bunch.” He meant that literally, with everyone seeming to have a signature colour in their intricate makeup and outfits, and in personality. Everyone had a different dynamic with other people, the friendships, love, and rivalries happening seemingly at random. It was like an animal kingdom, and Dave almost reveled in it. It was like the “family-and-friends" Thanksgivings, Christmases, Easters and every other holiday at John’s house, where all of their friends, cousins, friend’s cousins and cousin’s friends gathered into John’s suburban home, ate all the cakes that his Dad made, watched bad movies and came home with ringing ears from all the yelling. Those days were always some of Dave’s favourites, he would count down the days until he could go. It was always an escape, a way to get away from the constant anxiety of his hotbox of an apartment. The constant abuse, the nagging voice supplied. 

He shook himself out of his thoughts, startling Karkat off his shoulder. He smirked at him, wrapping his slightly shaking hands around his coffee cup Rose had got him. “Falling asleep there, sleeping beauty? Want me to carry you back to the dorm? Bridal style, of course.” 

Karkat scowled at him, to no one’s surprise. “Shut the fuck up. But yeah, I’m fucking tired. I spent all night finishing that assignment. My fingers are cramping from typing so fucking much.” 

“Damn, that sucks, Karbabe. Hey, that’s a great fucking nickname, how have I not thought of that. Karbabe, Karbabe, Karbabe.” Dave sing-songed, much to his friend’s disappointment. 

“That’s the worst one yet. Fuck, and I can’t stress this enough, you, Strider. Fuck you.” 

“You say that so much, it’s starting to feel more like a promise than a threat.” He tipped his shades down just enough to wink exaggeratedly, and Karkat bared his teeth at him. 

“I wouldn’t let you- what?” He seemed to be short circuiting, voice growing louder and higher and his face steadily going pink. “I would never- we don’t- I’d- Jesus fucking Christ, Strider, you are going to kill me one day, by being such a fucking annoying asshole.” Dave just waggled his eyebrows again, snickering at Karkat burying his face in his arms and glaring up at him. 

A half hour later, Dave had finally torn Karkat from Terezi’s interrogation, and right as they were supposed to leave, Rose cornered Dave. 

“What do you want?” Dave sighed, trying to push past her. 

“No way, dear brother, we are having this conversation. Karkat, don’t worry, he will talk to you later.” Rose dismissed Karkat, who just shrugged and kept walking, much to Dave’s sputtering. 

“Treason.” He grumbled. “What is it?” 

“Was he nice? Have fun?” She was scanning his face, and he scoffed. 

“Yeah, I did. He’s my friend, Lalonde. What about you, and your love-r?” He drew out the last word, swooning and leaning onto his sister, who shoved him off. 

“She was very nice, and very interesting. I really like her.” She seemed genuinely enchanted by the woman, and Dave couldn’t help but be happy with her. 

“That’s great, you should make a move. Ask her to get breakfast... alone.” He shot her some finger guns, smirking obnoxiously. “What is it with us and breakfast?” 

“No idea.” She smiled shyly, then remembered something. “Hey, me and Kanaya had a plan to have a Christmas-party thing, we could combine it with our birthday party. Would you and Karkat be interested in coming? Party games, spin the bottle and all that.” Dave nudged her with his shoulder, rolling his eyes behind his shades. 

“Yeah, sure, but I’m not macking on Karkat. I’ll let you do the macking on Kanaya, thank you very fucking much. Quit playing romance god.” 

“Am not, for the record, just trying to help you... get some. As the kids say.” She protested, grinning coyly. “And thank you, I really needed your approval of my love life.” Dave stuck his tongue out, poking her side and slapping her, who returned the action. “Seriously, you going to come? Don’t you want to do some tasteful underage drinking?” 

“Yeah totally, I’ll ask Karkles. Drag him along. Want me to help with planning, or do you and the wife have this under control?” 

She laughed at him, shouldering her purse and getting ready to walk away. “We very much do, thank you. I’ll see you later?” 

Dave nodded, leaning back. “Totally. Text me the deets of the part-ay, I’ll wear my fancy t shirt. Bye.” She waved goodbye and he saluted her, walking to join Karkat outside the door. He pinned him with a quizzical look, opening his mouth to comment, but Dave cut him off. 

“Does Terezi really eat chalk?” He said quickly, and Karkat launched into an explanation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember to comment! they feed my soul. my tumblr is @/dahsink !

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is @/dahsink! tell me what u think in the comments <3


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